When I started reading this morning’s column by Dan Walters (Oct. 5), I thought that he must be a liberal Democrat because he was describing the efforts of our state Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom to help the struggling working class with a “spectrum” of social programs and safety nets and went on to say that these programs would be sustained by the increased inflow of tax revenues — that California is experimenting with the notion of becoming just more of Western Europe (a wonderful place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there, because I have lived there).
But now I finally understand where Gary Horton is coming from — he wants to live in Europe without actually living there. Walters went on to quote Newsom speaking as a messiah to the masses (I often wonder if the man actually glows at night).
As Walters’ article turned into the final stretch his idyllic illustration of liberal Democratic dreams began to darken and resemble something more out of Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel “Atlas Shrugged.” Over-taxed and unappreciated, the prime movers (those who actually provide jobs to the struggling working class) “shrug” their roles, close shop and simply leave — leaving the government to run everything, which it can’t, thus causing its collapse. So, Dan Walters is not a liberal Democrat after all, nor is he a conservative Republican. No, Dan Walters is a very objective observer, the sort of person I could really get to like basically because he calls it like he sees it, not how he wants you to see it.
He’s not a politician — he’s a human being.
Whether or not our state Legislature and Newsom are genuinely well-intentioned in their drive to protect the struggling working class at the expense of the rest of us, as there are many political reasons why they would want to tax the rich to “feed” the poor in a state where the population of the poor seems to be continually increasing (think votes), they are still going to come up against the laws of economics sooner or later.
There are limits. Call me cruel, but I find that comforting.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
